Stone Federation has welcomed the publication of the Löfstedt Review into health & safety legislation that presages the swift removal of some of the red tape surrounding health & safety regulations.

The report recommends health & safety law should not apply to self-employed people whose work activity poses no potential risk of harm to others. It also says employers should not be held responsible for damages when they have done all they can to manage risks.

The Government feels the current raft of around 200 health & safety regulations are a brake on employment and industrial enterprise.

It has already announced a 35% cut in the Health & Safety Executive budget. Armed with the Review, Employment Minister Chris Grayling immediately announced that the Government will begin a wholesale revamp of UK health & safety law – binning more than half of it over the next three years.

He said that as early as 1 January a new Challenge Panel will be introduced to allow businesses to appeal against the decisions of health & safety inspectors that they feel are unfair.

Jane Buxey, Chief Executive of Stone Federation, told NSS: “While the removal of unnecessary red tape is to be welcomed, this is not a carte blanche to move health & safety down the agenda and endanger employees.

“At the Federation, we have recently engaged Peter Robertshaw as our Health & Safety consultant. He has introduced a 24-hour hot line on health & safety for members and is currently working on initiatives for next year, which include updates of all our health & safety publications and four roadshows we will be staging around the country. We are focusing on noise, vibration (HAVS), mechanical and manual handling and respirable silica dust (RCS).

“We are also producing a questionnaire that we would urge members to complete and return to us. It will enable us to demonstrate how responsible Stone Federation members are regarding health & safety issues and inform us about health & safety issues that concern members so we know where to target our initiatives in the future.”

HSE say the changes will enable them to concentrate on high risk areas – which includes the construction industry. Judith Hackitt, the Chair of HSE, says the report will go a long way to refocusing health & safety so those who want to do the right thing and reduce rates of work-related death, injury and ill health can do so.

Although the Government is keen to reduce the burden of legislation on business, those who fall foul of health & safety will face higher bills from April next year as the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) start charging £133 an hour for their ‘support’ if they visit sites or company premises that are not complying with health & safety requirements.

Another Government regulatory reform initiative, the Red Tape Challenge, will report in the New Year and could lead to even more loosening of health & safety regulations.